Diversity (DIV13) Requirement

Students may meet one of two Diversity (DIV13) requirements through reflection on diversity prior to and following participation on the following St. Lawrence approved off-campus study programs:

Australia

Austria

Canada

China (CIEE)

China (Xi'an Jiaotong)

Costa Rica

Czech Republic

Denmark

France

India

ISEP

Italy (LDM)

Italy (UGA/Cortona)

Japan

Jordan

Kenya

London

Nashville (Fisk)

New York City

New Zealand

Spain

Thailand

Trinidad

Washington, DC (Washington Center)

Students studying on Non-SLU programs are not eligible to apply for this diversity credit.

Applying for diversity credit is a three step process:

A) Students will be provided with specific instructions on how to address questions of diversity. They will be advised about the process for meeting the DIV13 requirement before and after their off-campus program during a mandatory workshop offered for students prior to their off-campus semester.

B) Reflective work of a minimum of 750 words and a maximum of 1,000 words must be completed prior to the diversity workshop and submitted in hard copy and in the online application file.

C) A further reflection following completion of off-campus study must submitted by the first day of classes in the semester following the student’s term off-campus. Reflective work will be reviewed by the Associate Dean for International and Intercultural Studies or his/her designees.

Students who submit reflective work after the first day of classes in the semester following their return from off-campus study will NOT be eligible to meet the DIV13 requirement.

Students will be prompted to submit their reflections online before departure AND after their return from off-campus study. These reflections should address the following questions.

Diversity 1:

Using examples from your off-campus study experience, discuss what you have learned about the nature and importance of cultural diversity within and among groups. Cultural diversity might include but is not limited to race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, national origin, age, religion, and other forms of identity. While you were away, what did you learn about how and why diversity matters to individuals, groups, and societies? In your answer please pay particular attention to only two or three aspects of cultural diversity.

Diversity 2:

Discuss the ways in which your off-campus experience influenced your understanding of the dynamics of power and justice within and between groups or societies. Use examples to illustrate what you learned about power and justice in the society in which you studied, between individuals or groups within that society, or between groups and societies in the global system.

Diversity 3:

Discuss what you learned about social location, including how social location shapes human interactions. How did your experience help you to understand the ways in which the identity of an individual--who they are, where they are from, what their background is--affects the way in which they are perceived by and relate to others? How were the relationships of people within the society in which you studied affected by their social identities, and how was your own relationship with the society in which you studied and the people you met shaped by your identity and background in relation to theirs?